rstpierre

Hi Gary. This is an excellent idea for a product that is much needed in schools. Teaching proper device etiquette and digital citizenship is important, but let’s be honest - there will always be (many) students who use their devices for non-educational purposes in class. If this was technologically possible to implement, I think you would have a winner here. The point made by others about it being cross-platform would be key to its success. The issues raised by some others need to be addressed - privacy concerns, reluctance to opt in, how to prevent students from closing Sentinel or just rebooting the device, etc. I recognize that a subscription based service would provide the most revenue in theory, but this does not seems like a product that would be suitable for that model. I see subscription based services as continually providing new content or features, unlike your product. I think you should ask for more money. Great job on both the elevator pitch and the website.

Hi Noan. As others have mentioned, your elevator pitch was engaging and had me curious to find out more about your product. I have not used a lot of game based learning in my practice and am very interested in how it works. Your website is put together well and you have a great team behind the Gengine. I, too, think that you should probably ask for more money. After reading through the information, I have a good general idea what your product offers, but I have to admit that there are some aspects that aren’t clear to me. The core idea seems to be a platform for the company and ”freelance” teachers or other content authors to make GBL units for sale to teachers. I am wondering why an app is required for this - there exists sites such as https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/ that facilitate the sale/exchange of lessons and study units. There may be more of market for your product than I am estimating due to ignorance on my part.

Michael - I believe you have identified an area that really needs to be addressed. As you, I don’t think that a lot of high school school students have a clear idea of what is involved in many careers. Your elevator pitch is well done and gave me a good understanding of your product. The main thing that concerns me with the concept is just how much detail you will have to go into to create the VR environments for each job scenario. With all the career options out there and the various tasks that go along with each one, you are looking at hundreds or thousands of different possible environments. A daunting task to be sure. That is a lot of work for programmers and graphic designers. This would lead to astronomical costs, I would think. Great job and very thorough presentation.

Hi Stephen. I agree that you have identified an untapped market opportunity here. Unlike an app though, hardware production will incur a significant costs in research and development and production. I don’t think all of the functions you mention could currently fit into a wristband, but we are not that far off and this may be possible in just a few years time. This project is fiction, so I will just accept it for what it is. The major obstacle I think you will have with such is product is privacy concerns and the “Big Brother is watching” fears. In some ways the e-Bit reminds me of an electronic monitoring bracelet that paroled ex-cons might have to wear. For the system to function you would have to have buy in from 100% of the parents and students. I couldn’t see much advantage if a significant number of students (or parents) refused to wear it. The issue might not just be some people resistant to the idea, but even students forgetting to put it on. Assuming these concerns could be allayed, I agree with your assertion that this could be a disruptive technology. Your market analysis is well done (modest in your estimation).

Hi Laurie. I was not familiar with beacon technology so I found your proposal interesting and informative. I was a bit confused as to the intended audience of your pitch. If it is a group of people at BCIT, it might have been good to explicitly state that at the beginning. Something like “Imagine you are a member of the board of …”. It seems to me that what you are proposing is not a new technology venture so much as pitching an existing technology to a specific group. You did an excellent job of explaining the setup costs and the comparison to other similar technologies. I would have liked to have heard your voice in the venture pitch.

Hello Tomek. Given the exceptional and tragic circumstances surrounding the genesis of your project, I am a bit hesitant to critique your plan, but that’s my role and you said “don’t be shy …”. This is definitely something worthwhile to pursue. I think that you have two ideas here: academic support and mental help support, and I think that your project would have a stronger impact if you separated them. If you (or anyone) were to work on the mental health app, I agree with what Esther said that it shouldn’t be limited to the family of schools that you work at - this would be a service that would benefit the target demographic all over Japan. The website you put together to promote the idea is rather brief. What is the competition? What is your monetization plan? (perhaps this could be supported by a government mental health initiative) What is your marketing plan? The “team” page seems generic - even if it is fictitious, make up some names and give a brief bio of each person. This is obviously an important idea for you. If you feel passionate about it, go for it.

Hello Christine. When I began to look at your pitch, I first wanted to see the elevator pitch. I would have liked to see it feature more prominently on the page. I am sure that you must have run into to some kind of technical problem that forced you to record a video of the computer screen, but this really distracted from the presentation. After watching the elevator pitch, I understood that you were offering something to help students with their science labs, but I really had no idea what. An app? A hardware device? A website? Although brief, your initial pitch should be more informative. And I would have liked to hear your voice (or a voice) as well. In your section on the competition the link to projectmanager.com leads to a fake site. I think it is a wise idea to offer a free trial period to hook the users and then get them to pay. A whole year is a long time, though. That means a year without revenue. Maybe you could build that into your ask and trying looking for more money. You did a good job presenting the statistics of prospective students, but you got the last number (grade 7-12 total) wrong. You are probably aware of this already. You have an excellent idea here. I think the what will make the product standout is the the data collection feature. Technically, this will be difficult to implement and will require research and perhaps the production of hardware to be compatible.

Hi Heather. This is an interesting and beneficial endeavor. I noticed that you have the same last name as the founder (father, brother, husband?) and I assume you must be related. This must be a project close to your heart. Just like Dan, I found it a bit difficult to have a clear idea of what the project was until I read further in the document. I like the fact that organisations the support the program can “brand” their own version of it. For groups that are looking to promote literacy (and this could include for-profits that want to give something back to the community), this is an excellent opportunity. This could be something that municipalities could consider. I had a bit of difficulty following the format you used for the venture pitch (using the case study) as it deviated from what I was expecting.

Hi Ben. At first I questioned the need for such an app, but then I thought back on my experience teaching a course called Exploring Technology a few years ago and remembered how difficult it was to track materials for the robotics unit and the bridge building project. I can see the usefulness of your product. Your elevator pitch does a good job of introducing the pain point and your solution. I wondered if it was necessary to have students use the app, but I can certainly see the benefit in them being able to view their project plans and a list of necessary materials - though this could be easily communicated through a teacher’s website or an LMS. I am not convinced that it is wise to leave the tracking of materials up to students to input into the app - it leaves a lot of room for errors to occur which would compromise the whole idea. I am not sure that your product offers enough perpetual value to warrant a subscription based revenue model. It seems more like a product that one would purchase outright. The discussion of statistics concerning adoption of LMS’s does not seem to fit within the context as Tickle Trunk is not an LMS. While your product is an interesting idea and addresses a real issue (materials management), I would not consider investing.

Hello Sarah. Your idea is certainly revolutionary and in the context of this project I am a bit unsure of to what degree I should be critical about the foundational concept of your venture - that learning disabilities can be diagnosed by software and cured by subsequent cognitive exercises that create new neural pathways. I was unaware of the Arrowsmith program and looked up some further information on it. It is a fascinating technique, but not without controversy. A number of cognitive psychologists and neuroscientists are quite skeptical of the program’s claims, citing lack of scientific research. As this project is a work of fiction, I will set these concerns aside and accept your claims as (fictionally) factual. Your presentation is well done, but I found that the background music was a bit too loud at times and you presented too much text on your slides, relying on reading all the text displayed on the slide. This practice discouraged in presentations. You have successfully presented the pain point and explained how your product will fill a need in the market for which no other products exist. I think you have done a good job of reviewing the competition (although this is no direct competition against your product. If your technology was proven to be effective, I would consider investing as it addresses a problem that has a huge impact on the quality of life for individuals and society at large.